This invention relates generally to devices for lifting fence posts and similar elongated objects out of the ground; more specifically, it relates to a cage-like structure which is adapted to be dropped over the exposed end of a post, and including elements which engage the post so as to lift it when the cage is raised.
The use of fence posts to surround real property is well-known, and many different types of fence posts have been utilized from time to time. Some posts are essentially cylindrical, as a result of fabricating the posts from the trunks of small trees. Other posts have been manufactured from steel rods, and they frequently have a T or V shape in order to have a reasonably high area moment of inertia without an unreasonably great weight. Once fence posts are installed in the ground, however, they are not necessarily left there forever. They may be removed and relocated as a matter of choice, or to comport with new ownership of a certain parcel of land. If the posts are wooden, they often are subject to deterioration, and they must occasionally be pulled from the ground and replaced with new, sound posts. Examples of post pullers which are capable of pulling cylindrical posts include the devices shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,850 to Bemis entitled "Vehicle Mounted Hydraulic Powered Post Puller"; U.S. Pat. No. 2,482,950 to Toftey entitled "Post Puller"; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,647,185 to Phibbs entitled "Power-Operated Pulling Implement". Additional post pullers are known which are specific to metal fence posts; examples include U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,687 to DeRome entitled "Post Pulling Apparatus"; U.S. Pat. No. 4,161,317 to Parker entitled "Metal Fence Post Puller"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,621 to Ekern entitled "Fence Post Puller".
With regard to the pullers for cylindrical (or so-called round) posts, essentially all of them are characterized by being either bulky or heavy or both. Furthermore, they are usually adapted to grasp a fence post near the ground, which means that there must be a clear field of view for the worker to be able to see essentially all of the post and to have space for working around the bottom of the post. In practice, however, there are many instances where cactus and bushes or small trees have grown up around fence posts, thereby making access to the bottom of the post a very difficult matter. A farmer who can see the top of a fence post that he knows needs to be replaced will not necessarily be able to see the bottom of the post without first doing a lot of manual work in clearing away the brush, etc. It would be desirable, therefore, to have a puller for fence posts and similar elongated objects which does not require engagement near the bottom of the fence post.
When the fence posts are metal, pulling devices such as the aforementioned devices of DeRome, Parker and Ekern are capable of lifting a post after it has been initially grabbed near the top thereof. But while these three metal post pullers solve one problem, they introduce other problems. For example, the Ekern device requires that a person be physically next to the post where he can handle a pin 33 and insert it into two juxtaposed slots 27, 27 in order to engage the post. After the post has been pulled from the ground, the pin 33 must then be grabbed and shifted transversely in order to separate the puller from the post. Both the steps of engaging and disengaging the puller require that a farmer, rancher or other operator climb down off a tractor to manually manipulate the post puller, and then climb back on the tractor in order to move to a different location for pulling the next fence post. Alternatively, two people would be required to utilize an Ekern post puller, one of which drives the tractor and the other who walks from post to post, sequentially engaging and disengaging the puller. The need for manual engagement/disengagement is typical of the DeRome and Parker post pullers, also. Hence, there has still remained a need for a post puller which has the simplicity and economy of pullers equivalent to those represented by DeRome and Ekern, but which are capable of being remotely engaged and disengaged by a tractor operator who never leaves the seat of his tractor.
A further object is to provide a post puller which is capable of lifting both round posts (such as cedar or oak fence posts) and metal posts (such as those illustrated in the DeRome and Ekern patents).
Still another object is to provide a post puller which is capable of engaging an elongated object like a post or pipe which is oriented in some direction other than vertical. Indeed, it would be advantageous to provide a puller which could be engaged with a metal post that has been bent over such that it is almost parallel to the ground--as if an errant vehicle had inadvertantly run over the post, etc.
One more object is to provide a post puller which is capable of being utilized by a single operator and which permits that operator to ride safely on a tractor where he is above snakes, ants, scorpions, cactus, thistles and other potentially hazardous things.